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Book 2 Now Available – Free!

I am excited to share the good news with you!

After all of the prepping, planning, learning, tweaking, learning some more and having my files rejected more times that I would like to remember, the second book in the Riley’s Adventures series is now available on Amazon!

Even better is that, before I go in for an all-out marketing launch, I am keeping it low key for THREE DAYS ONLY and offering the ebook for FREE.

Why would one do such a silly thing, you ask?

No, I’m not soft in the brain and yes, I do want to actually sell my books to generate income. To boil down the complex courses, blogs, help text and webinars that I’ve been taking over the past year or so – in order to become noticed, it is important to build a repertoire of reviews.

The more reviews, the better AND a “verified review” makes the Amazon algorithms notice me more, which in turn, puts my books in front of more potential buyers.

When you purchase it, even for zero dollars and post a review, you are now a verified reviewer. It doesn’t provide as much leverage as a regular sale, but it’s an excellent start for ‘lil ole me as an independent publisher.

How you can make a difference

You have power. I would even call it Super Powers. Just find my book here on Amazon, purchase the ebook for FREE and write an honest review. Of course, I am hoping that you will love it so much that you want to share it with everyone that you think would also love it. And before you ask, YES you can even share it while it is free for purchase!

My books are available on Amazon in several countries, so if you have friends anywhere in the world, be sure to share with them, too!

Riley’s Adventures with Granny in the Mountains – Old Fort Point and Big Horn Sheep is the second book in my series. It will be available in ebook format for FREE on August 24, 25 and 26 only.

What about the paperback?

Of course the paperback version is available for purchase. My hope is that you will love the ebook so much that you will want to purchase it for your own children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews etc.

UK Storyteller Contest

KDP has this amazing opportunity for authors to enter the UK Storyteller contest simply by including them in my keywords. The Kindle Storyteller Award is a £20,000 literary prize recognizing outstanding writing. It is open to writers publishing in English in any genre, who publish their work through Kindle Direct Publishing. Readers play a significant role in selecting the winner, helped by a panel of judges including various book industry experts. Thus your Super Powers could really make a difference here.

Coming soon…

Book 3 is well under way in the hands of my dear friend, Jennifer Ottaway, as she brings to life our next adventure: Pyramid Lake – Coyotes and Wolves. I expect to have it published in late October – just in time for your Holiday shopping.

Thank you!

I can’t thank you enough for all of your support. Do you have questions, comments or suggestions? What are you looking forward to in the next books?

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How Do You Review?

Reviews are gold!

I used to delete the requests for reviews from my inbox, honestly, I still often do, but more so with a “sorry, bud, I just don’t have time” perspective. However, since putting in months of education and research into publishing my books, I’ve definitely put more effort into writing reviews for products or services that I purchase.

Reviews are the backbone of anyone that is selling a product or service in our modern world. I rarely purchase anything without checking out the overall rating and reviews. I won’t even consider anything less than a 4 point something star rating and will go straight for the top ranked items first.

On occasion, I’ll receive a sub-par product and before posting a poor review, I will contact the seller for resolution. This is usually the most effective route. Most sellers honestly do want their customers to be happy with their product so that they tell all their friends and family and they sell more.

I never thought too much about the content of my reviews in the past and just wrote whatever quick thought I could put down to get it done. I’ve learned the best or most helpful reviews include some thoughtful details. I found recent reviews quite helpful in ordering clothing because a handful of them actually included photos and their height, weight and usual size to compare the fit.

Enjoying the Journey

I’m very close to launching the second book in the series for Riley’s Adventures with Granny in the Mountains – Old Fort Point and Big Horn Sheep. If you’ve been following me you already know it’s been quite the process to say the least. I’m close. I had hoped to have the paperback live already but I keep getting different tweaks that KDP wants me to make before they will publish so I’m working my way through.

When I was deciding on a photo for this post, I thought of a rainbow and the proverbial pot of gold and searched my photos. This was taken on September 5, 2016. I had only been in Jasper a few weeks and was checking out the attractions on my day off. It was overcast and raining lightly all morning. I was watching the weather, hoping it would clear up. I wandered in and out of some of the stores, getting to know the town and even went through an interesting little wildlife museum. But the rain wasn’t clearing. I decided to go up the Skytram anyway. About halfway up, it started snowing heavily. I was only wearing a light jacket, so I bought a cozy sweater from the gift shop and hiked to the summit. Even though I couldn’t see the valley below, the white abyss was eerily beautiful.

I enjoyed the journey for what it was and when I got back to the upper station, soaked from the wet snow, the sun came out and a beautiful rainbow emerged.

More images from that day

This is how I feel about the journey to publish my children’s book series and soon, my first fiction novel. I love the journey. It’s not exactly what I had expected, but wonderful nonetheless.

I appreciate that I have so many supporters that have followed me thus far and I hope to continue to earn that support as I share many more adventures!

Call to Action – How you can help!

I will be publishing the paperback very soon. The ebook is now live and available on Kindle. If you have a Kindle unlimited membership, you can read it for free now! If not, no problem – I will be putting it on a promo for $0 as soon as I’ve gotten the paperback file approved.

Your reviews are the most valuable thing to me as an artist trying to become established in a very competitive market. Zero cost, aside from your time to read and review. My hope is that you will love the book, rave to everyone that you think would also love it, and purchase paperback copies for your children or to give as gifts!

Here are some points to consider for writing a helpful review:

  • State the name of the book in your write-up – keywords are important for rankings
  • Tell a bit about the book – a one line synopsis of what it was about
  • What did you particularly like about it
  • Was there something you hoped you would see or questions for the author
  • If you feel the product is sub-par – contact the seller/author directly to give them a chance to make it right before publishing a poor review.
  • Who would enjoy the book?
  • Would you purchase it again?

Do you have any points to add? How do you review? I’d love to hear your comments!

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Checking In!

Lisa's desk with notebooks, test copies, coffee, gratitude journal and laptop

I cleared my desk – which is a folding table in front of the sofa that also doubles as our dinner table – so that I could focus on yet again fixing the files for publishing my books on Amazon. Book 1 is and has been live, but I had some seemingly simple corrections to make. The file was rejected and we’re back on that hamster wheel of tweaking bits and bobs until it’s finally accepted! Such is the life of a Canadian children’s books author.

“KDP, Amazon’s publishing platform, and I have not yet become best friends”

I’ve been taking courses to improve myself as a writer. Website design, WordPress courses, marketing and promotion, KDP University, educational blogs. KDP, Amazon’s publishing platform, and I have not yet become best friends, but I am a tenacious person with goals and focus. This is a learning process that will be a great benefit for later.

Upcoming Events

My target publishing date for Book 2 in the Riley’s Adventures series is August 24. I plan to enter it into the UK Storytellers contest which has a deadline of August 31.

I am excited to be a part of Jasper’s Alberta Culture Days. A group of organizations in the Library and Cultural Centre – ACFA (French association), Habitat for the Arts, Jasper Artists Guild and the library have sponsored the event for the past 5 years. This year it will be a pop up event at Robson Park on September 25 from 2 pm – 4 pm. Jennifer and I will be holding a session at 3 pm where we do a reading and a painting workshop en français.

Watch for the French version of Riley’s Adventures – coming soon!

Jennifer is busy working on the illustrations for Book 3 – Coyotes and Wolves & Pyramid Lake. Watch for this exciting adventure by the end of October. We may even have some sneak peeks at the illustrations soon!

My website and social media platforms are a work in progress – pardon the awkwardness if you’ve visited recently. I’ve finished 34 of 143 modules for the course on building my website. The stories of The Little Engine that Could and the Tortoise and the Hare come to mind quite frequently.

Looking for Reviewers

Closeup of girl with red hair and blue eyes, face is illuminated
Ice and Fire, by Lisa Nantais

I am looking to build a small group of readers who would be willing to preview, provide objective feedback and write thoughtful public reviews from final advanced copies prior to publication.

Ideally you regularly read books that are in the same genre and can answer the following questions:

  • Does it flow well? or is it choppy?
  • Does it make sense?
  • Can you picture the characters and where they are at?
  • Is it consistent with the tense it was written in? 
  • Does it keep your constant attention so you don’t want to put it down or does it drag?
  • Did you find anything long-winded or unnecessary?
  • Was there anything that you had to read twice to understand?
  • Is it believable?
  • Does the dialogue sound right?
  • Is there anything confusing about it – other than the potential plot twists?
  • Are the characters believable? 
  • Do they each have their own unique personalities – or is the writer’s personality overriding all of them?
  • What were your favourite parts? Why?

Send me a note if you’d like to join my Round Table

You will be part of the elite team that gets the final copy first and free, knowing that you contributed to its success. And you will feel good about helping an independent artist compete with the publishing giants.

I have 6 seats and one has already been filled, message me soon!

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Patience is a Virtue

The first time I submitted Riley’s Adventures with Granny in the Mountains – Pyramid Mountain and Mule Deer for paperback publication on KDP/Amazon was September 6, 2020. Within three days I received an email telling me that my title needed attention. My file was rejected because it needed some tweaks to the sizing of pages and photos and for “flattening” to embed fonts and pictures. They were kind enough to give me exact page references and I set about fixing the issues which led to researching how to flatten/embed and make the adjustments. OK. That didn’t seem to difficult, so I uploaded and re-submitted October 27.

Rinse and Repeat

Three days later, I got an email telling me my title needed attention. Rinse and repeat 3 more times until…May 26, 2021. I didn’t get an email, however, I logged into my account to see the glorious status “PUBLISHING” with a little pop up that says it may take up to 72 hours for it to be live. Halleluiah!

Success!

I whooped and woohoo’d around the apartment then promptly texted Jennifer the screenshot of the status and made a Facebook post to advise my loyal fans (aka my enormous family and friends) that it would be going live soon. I needed to gather some support for go live day.

After a few days, I started checking the FAQs and saw it could be a little longer, up to a week sometimes, so I waited patiently. Since I also have a full time job, I spend much of my weekend sorting out updates to my website, social media, any book-related tasks, connecting with family, household responsibilities, getting outdoors and finding some time to actually write the books.

Oh Technology..

Today it’s two weeks, so I figured I better give them a call. First – I have to say that I am impressed with KDP’s customer service – there’s a ton of FAQ that answers most questions, but I needed a live body so I requested a call back. I was shocked when my phone rang less than a minute later. The young lady was very competent and helpful, but she found that there is a known technical issue that has a number of paperback publications currently “stuck” in the publishing system.

So, now I wait. Again. And while I do, I will keep working on improving my website, so if you happen to be stopping by and see things out of sorts, it’s just Granny doing some spring cleaning and re-organizing. Please feel free to leave me a note. Tell me how you’re doing, what you like/don’t like about the site, what you might like to see, if you’ve read the book or watched the video or just say hi!

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Your books are ready! Eek!

A day early!

What a journey it has been (and still is!) to reach this point! The satisfaction of seeing that subject line in my email made my day!

Now I’ll be anxiously awaiting the delivery of them so I can get them dedicated, signed and shipped.

If you have already contacted me for your pre-order, I will be reaching out to you for payment and delivery – and I want to say a special ~THANK YOU~ – from the bottom of my heart for supporting me in getting this series debut to market.

I want to give a special paragraph to highlight how much the support of my friends, family, colleagues and community means to me. I am so thankful to be blessed with amazing people in my world. So once again – THANK YOU!!

Once the books arrive, they will be offered at the regular full price of $15 – still a bargain with the beautiful artwork that Jennifer created to help bring my stories to life. Have I ever told you how much I love and appreciate this wonderful lady?

Not only did you save and get a personal dedication by pre-ordering…you may find a little surprise with your delivery… you never know!

There is still plenty of time to pre-order!! Do you have brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, nieces, nephews who would love a copy dedicated just to them?

You can pre-order by visiting me at the Jasper Farmer’s Market on Wednesday from 11 am – 3 pm, shoot me an email, facebook messenger, or instagram message with who you want the books dedicated to, your mailing address and email address.

I will reach out to you in the next week to confirm shipping and arrange for payment.

In the meantime, I will be cleaning, creating, coo-ing at my newborn grandson who may join Riley on some of our future adventures when he gets a bit older and having a sip or two of wine to celebrate this wonderful feeling to reach this milestone!

Cheers!

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Book 2 – Sneak Peek!

Happy Birthday to my baby today! My youngest, Riley’s momma turned 24 today. Be still my heart – how did this happen?

After my recent trip home just prior to the pandemic being declared, I watched many of the home movies from when both of my babies were….well – babies! Such sweet memories!! One of the many projects I have on my list – get them digitized. Having the aid of a professional with access to important technology to achieve my goal is a bonus!

Seeing them as babies, toddlers and sassy young children – it feels like yesterday! And that’s why being a grandparent brings such incredible joy – I get to relive some of those precious moments with a mind that appreciates just how incredibly precious they really are. Especially during Covid times when I cannot predict when I can safely visit them next.

Until then, I have been spending time writing and coordinating with Jennifer for the illustrations, having our social distance meetings at our “office” pictured here. Not a bad place to work!

Not only have I put in motion the process to publish the physical copies, we are in the final stages of completing the second book – Old Fort Point and Big Horn Sheep. I am excited to be able to share the books this summer at our Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays! Stay tuned for our official launch and book signing dates.

I am all giggles about this and I cannot resist sharing one of the illustrations for a sneak peek!

PS: If you haven’t already seen it – you can view the video for the first book here: https://youtu.be/f61I84F87zo – It means the world to us aspiring artists if you could like, subscribe and share this with everyone that you think would be interested! Thank you so much for your support.

PPS: Watch for the next video to come soon!

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Adaptability

I’ve had plenty of time to work with my photos – though it never seems to be enough – and one of the things that makes me shake my head in wonder is Riley’s progression in the span of less than a year! Walking, talking, counting, reciting letters, objects, colours, sounds. He’s getting taller and his personality is developing. He has a sense of humour, he has preferences, an intense curiosity about the world, fearlessness, and an all out joyfulness that is contagious when you interact with him!

With all of the changes that he’s experienced, he’s adapted to learn and grow and enjoy the world around him.

How is it that he becomes the teacher?

With the delays in my ability to get my books out into the world in a world that is avoiding physical interactions, I’ve adapted as well.

I am excited to further bring my stories to life in the virtual world with help from my own personal Emmy-award winning cinematographer. Oh the perks of living with such a talented and creative mind!!

Andrew is painstakingly adding sound and animation to my reading of the book while blinking back tears because he loves it so much. He is also a perfectionist. If you listen carefully to the ambiance throughout the reading, you may recognize that all sounds are authentic including the rushing river, trickling stream, wildlife and wind. I can attest to this because we were up in the wee hours of the morning for a couple of days to find locations where there would be a lack of traffic, trains, and humans and an abundance of nature sounds.

Though many would not blink if the generic sound of a blue jay played in the background, it is like nails on a chalkboard to an excellent birder like Andrew who knows that blue jays do not visit us here in Jasper.

I would love to hear how many birds and other wildlife sounds you can identify when you listen to the story!

Stay tuned for the launch of Riley’s Adventures with Granny in the Mountains YouTube Channel – coming very soon!! You can subscribe to my blog using the link below for updates if you like.

In the meantime, Jennifer Ottaway is well into the illustrations for the second installment in the series: Old Fort Point and Big Horn Sheep. I will keep you posted on the progress for this exciting new adventure with Riley and Granny in the Mountains!

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Predictably Unpredictable

I had hoped to have a printed copy of my debut installment of Riley’s Adventures with Granny in the Mountains for Riley’s 2nd birthday, however circumstances and timing did not allow for that to happen. Fortunately I had a backup plan and a backup to the backup plan, so I did not stress in the least. Well, maybe a little, but I was able to share the book with him and my family using a modified digital version for now.

The plans were set for a soft launch at the Habitat for the Arts and Jasper Municipal Library’s Book Lover’s Weekend event, however National measures that are being taken to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus have led to cancellations and postponements of most public gatherings.

It’s all good. I am very happy to support the measures being taken by avoiding public contact. It’s the responsible thing to do. I’ve actually said this prior to the virus spreading from its origin weeks ago – they should shut down all movement from the epicenter and contain the spread of the virus before it becomes global. Be prepared.

Of course such measures have great impact on people physically, socially and financially and no-one wanted to do that if it weren’t absolutely necessary. I am one who always remains calm in the midst of chaos or fear of the unknown. It is never helpful to become panicky and irrational.

We are all waiting, with our lives virtually on hold, to see how this pandemic will alter our realities. The fact is, the world as we know it has forever changed. We have shed a layer of innocence and there is no going back.

There’s no doubt in my mind that we will overcome, learn, evolve and grow from this experience. We will settle into a new “normal”, hopefully with better habits and a better plan for responding to the inevitable next virus that challenges our resilience as a species.

In the meantime, let’s appreciate the things that bring us joy, laughter, adventure, optimism and a little escape from the constant bombardment and sensationalism of the news coverage on every channel. What is your favourite book to get lost in?